This article is from page 71 of the 2011-06-07 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 71 JPG
Kildysart 1-15 – Kilfenora 1-11 at Páirc Naomh Mhuire, Quilty
DESPITE LEADING from start to finish, Kildysart never had it all their own way against Junior A champions Kilfenora. A strong wind blowing in from the sea dominated the game but last year’s semi-finalists arguably played better when facing into the gale for the second period than they did in the first.
Still, while they would be happy by the 1-15 scoreline, they also kicked 13 wides over the hour and had Kilfenora taken their goal opportunities, there might have been a more dramatic finish. However, Kildysart just had the better balance on the day, despite making harder work of the result than they perhaps should have done.
All so different early on as with the aid of the conditions, everything they kicked seemed to go over the crossbar with Ger Kelly and Christy Clancy grabbing a brace each on their way to a 0-5 to 0-0 lead by the eighth minute.
All that early work was almost cancelled out in a three minute period midway through the half when Killian Malone was presented with two glorious goal opportunities. The first one he took with aplomb after receiving an inch perfect pass from James Keane while after a Brian O’Sullivan reply at the other end, Keane again supplied Malone for a second opportunity following the collision of two defenders but he lost possession at the vital time.
How there wasn’t more goals in the remainder of the half came down to the superb goalkeeping of John Murtagh and Liam Keane who both produced breathtaking saves to keep their respective opponents at bay. Kildysart’s Murtagh excellently stopped Aidan Malone’s rasping effort while down the other end, Keane produced a point blank stop to deny Keith Murphy.
Instead, Kildysart wiped their brows and got back on top, and despite eight first half wides, they did manage to score another four points, two from corner-forward Damien Murtagh to hold a 0-10 to 1-02 halftime advantage.
It didn’t seem enough when facing into the breeze for the second half especially when Kilfenora kicked three successive points in as many minutes to bring the lead down to just two. Pat Connole began the rally after only 15 seconds, followed by points from marque forwards Killian and Aidan Malone while the former also had another goal attempt blocked by John Ginnane.
However, Kilfenora never forced home the wind advantage and bizarrely brought back Kevin Theasby as a sweeper, just as they had done against the conditions in the opening half. It allowed Kildysart to hit back through Christy (2) and John Clancy, only to be pegged back by a brace of Killian Malone frees and that was to be the pattern of the game until Kildysart found the net in the 55th minute.
There was an element of fortune about the goal as substitute Eoin Cleary’s shot for a point dropped short and broke to Damien Murtagh who finished at the second attempt to give his side a 1-15 to 1-08 cushion.
Kilfenora never gave up and kicked the last three points but with time against them, they had to settle for second best against a Kildysart side that will harbour ambitions of being in the shake up later in the summer.
Kildysart
John Murtagh (8), John Ginnane (8), Shane McNelis (7), Kieran Leahy (7), Brian Eyres (7), Keith O’Connor (7), Michael Eustace (7), Brian O’Sullivan (7) (0-1), John Clancy (8) (0-1), Damien Hill (6) (0-1), Niall Ginnane (7) (0-1), Christy Clancy (8) (0-4), Ger Kelly (7) (0-5 3f), Keith Murphy (6), Damien Murtagh (7) (1-2 1f)
Sub
Eoin Cleary for Murphy (50 mins)
Kilfenora
LiamKeane (8), Shane Long (7), Dairmuid Nagle (7), Paul Reddan (6), Michael James Malone (6), Cathal Nagle (7), Paudie Ireland (7), Pat Connole (7) (0-1), LiamO’Brien (6), Jason Connole (6), Killian Malone (8) (1-6 3f), James Keane (7) (0-1),Austin Kelly (7) (0-1),Aidan Malone (7) (0-1), KevinTheasby (6)
Sub
Aidan Long (6) (0-1) for J. Connole (39 mins)
Man of the Match
Christy Clancy (Kildysart) Referee John Brew(Kilmurry Ibrickane)